Hi! I'm Eric and I'm Here to Help
Your music is your baby, believe me I understand COMPLETELY! I’ve been riding the roller coaster ride of the music industry for well over 20 years and have made a damn good living doing it! I’ve had songs and productions with One Direction, Bishop Briggs, Cascada, Fat Joe, Big Time Rush, Dizzie Rascal, TWICE, Abraham Mateo, and many more huge names… I’ve worked with all the big major labels (Sony, Universal, Warner) as well as the coolest independent labels like Glassnote, Soave, Ultra and Armada. I’ve had commercial placements with Victoria’s Secret, Aveeno, Nexplanon, Sunsilk and others. I count my blessings every day. I made a lot of smart decisions, but also tons of mistakes along the way.
My colleagues over the past 20+ years have fallen mainly into two categories: a handful that have crossed over to superstardom, and many that have quit doing music all together. But a select few of us have fallen into what could be considered a “sweet spot” for artists just like you. We are still very active, still getting major label releases and hit singles around the world. We get synch placements, we work with hit songwriters, international superstars, and yet because of the state of technology and connectivity in modern times, we still have a certain level of accessibility that YOU can tap in to!
You’d never guess it but I hate talking about myself! That being said, considering the service I’m providing I figure you’d want to know a little more about who I am and where I came from. I am originally from NY and spent my life in concert bands, playing clarinet. I got into rock and rap music by my senior year dabbling in live shows and rough recordings for fun. When my mom sent me to the local college to sign up for a liberal arts degree, I spotted a pamphlet for “studio recording technology” in the waiting room. I got excited and came home and told my mom I signed up for that instead. Luckily she was ok with it!
After a year long certificate program I got an internship at one of the biggest studios on Long Island. Cove City Sound Studios. It was owned by local legend and Billy Joel saxaphonist Richie Cannata, and Sony records superproducer Ric Wake. After a year of making coffee and acting as tech assistant, I was hired as engineer and eventually a staff producer signed to Ric Wake. This gave me my first experience at how the hit records on the radio were written and produced.
I spent six years with Ric Wake, and then found myself as an independent producer competing alone for the attention of the major labels. Getting major label placements while signed to a superproducer is one thing, but being independant, with your past accomplishments pretty much shadowed by your former boss, is a scary reality. My name was not the one in lights, so no one cared about WHO I was! Only WHAT did my MUSIC sound like. This period was the most transformative for me. WIth some help from my BRUTALLY honest younger brother, and lots of screaming and frustration, I managed to crack the code on what makes a song desirable and signable by major label AnR’s. In that period I managed to place records directly with Sony/Columbia, Nickelodeon, Ultra Records, as well as numerous tv commercials and independent movies.
Just as I was getting ready to ramp up my freelance production operation I was reconnected with an old friend of mine from the Ric Wake days who had recently found success with a new artist he developed, named Lady Gaga. His name was RedOne and we had co-produced a few things years earlier and got along really well. He had asked me for a CD (yes a CD lol) of my latest work. Finding himself in desperate need for reliable songwriters and producers in the midst of his success, he asked me if I’d like to work for him as a staff writer and producer. So once again, I would be doing the hands on production for a much bigger producer, and once again, I would have access to the new guard of industry gatekeepers.
I spent 3 years with RedOne continuing to grow my credits and experience, but then inevitably found myself once again as a freelance music producer, and once again having to start from scratch to build relationships directly with the major labels. This was my second most transformative period. Music production was rapidly growing more accessible and the quality and competition I was up against was at a level I had never thought possible. It was now not only about reaching the new standards of quality, but how QUICKLY I could turn songs around that met those standards! Once again God must’ve been with me as I secured multiple placements with Island/Universal, Warner Music, EMI, Soave, and had numerous international hits with artists like TWICE and Abraham Mateo. I signed international publishing deals and regularly hear my music in stores and on TV.
Which bring us to today, 2024. Are Major Labels still an option for the up and coming artist with talent? How does streaming work? How do you get heard above all the noise today? These are all important questions which I can answer, but the most important question is this: with all of today’s noise and social media hype, does the MUSIC even matter anymore? And the answer to that has never changed: Yes.